Utah Arts Council. Utah Taxonomy

Utah Arts Council

Scope note

The UAC is the primary agency in Utah through which state and national funds combine to stimulate and encourage the arts in the state. The Council distributes funds appropriated directly for the arts by both the Utah State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. It acts as a state coordinator and advisor, having an awareness of various programs that might be underway at any given time around the state. The Council assists with professional development where needed and provides direct matching grants to more than 200 nonprofit organizations across the state. The Utah Arts Council conducts programs, directed by Council staff, which provide more than 500 outreach services (including financial assistance) to schools, local arts councils and organizations, community centers, performing groups and individual artists. Overall the Council serves as a catalyst for arts programming throughout the state, assisting arts organizations, groups and individuals in bringing the arts to the people of Utah.

Historical note

Utah was the first state to create a council in the arts in the United States. The Third Utah Legislature established the Utah Art Institute on March 9, 1899 just three years after statehood in "to advance the interests of the fine arts, develop the influence of art in education and to foster the introduction of art in manufactures." [Laws of Utah, Chap. 29 (1899)]. Prime mover of this legislation was Utah's early woman legislator, Mrs. Alice Merrill Horne. The act authorized an annual art competition and exhibition with the winning entry becoming part of the state art collection. In her honor, the state established in 1899 a state-owned art collection known for many decades as the "Alice Art Collection." An inventory of this collection and works acquired by the Utah State Fair Board was done in 1960-61 by Professor H. Reuben Reynolds of Utah State University.

In 1937 the name was changed by the Legislature from the Utah Art Institute to the Utah State Institute of Fine Arts with objectives, functions, and activities remaining unchanged. A governing board of 13 members was established at that time.

Early in 1967 the Legislature created the Utah Division of Fine Arts withing the new Utah State department of Development Services. The 13 members of the existing board were named as the Board of the Division of Fine Arts constitutin in effect an interlocking directorate between the Institure and the Division. The Institute of Fine Arts retained its identify, but to conform to state organization nomemclature, it also became known as the Division of Fine Arts. In about 1968 Governor Calvin L. Rampton assigned the Division with the responsibility for the care and maintenance of state-owned art.

In 1978 the James R. Glendenning home at 617 East South Temple was restored to house the Utah Arts Council. By 1979 the agency was more commonly known and referred to as the Utah Arts Council (UAC), even though the official name remained the Division of Fine Arts within the new Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED).